The prevalence of global positioning systems (GPS) and other types of location determination systems in mobile devices (e.g., cell phones, tablets, etc.) has allowed for the creation of so-called “geofences.” A geofence may be a virtual fence drawn on a map and enforced using the GPS capabilities of a mobile device. Using a location determination system such as GPS, the location of a mobile device may be determined and then compared to the location of the virtual fence, and that comparison may result in a determination of whether the mobile device is inside of, or outside of, the virtual fence.
Battery power is used in determining the location of a user's mobile device (and thus the user) in a geofence environment. However, a location determination operation performed by the mobile device may consume a large amount of battery power of the mobile device, and may result in a need to recharge the mobile device fairly often, which is burdensome for the user. There remains an ever-present need for improving the energy efficiency of such geofence systems.